Van Barneveld: whitewash

LAS VEGAS DESERT CLASSIC
Thursday night results
A Hamilton 6-1 S Brenneman
B Davis 5-6 M Walsh
G Convery 1-6 J Klaasen
A Lewis 6-5 R Thornton
R van Barneveld 6-0 M Clark
J Wade 6-1 D Smith
P Manley 6-3 S Maish

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• Order of Merit
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Raymond van Barneveld has started the defence of his Las Vegas Desert Classic title in fine style with a 6-0 whitewash over Matt Clark at the Mandalay Bay Resort.

The Dutchman was never in trouble against Clark, a qualifier from Manchester, whose failure to find any real rhythm with his darts was amply reflected in the eventual scoreline.

A 118 finish was the highlight as van Barneveld swept to a 3-0 lead, with Clark then missing a succession of doubles in the fourth leg as his opponent extended his advantage.

Clark threw a maximum at the start of the fifth, but it was van Barneveld who went further ahead and he wrapped up victory on double 16 after three more misses from his opponent.

"Matt had chances to win two or three legs but you have to hit your doubles and I did that," van Barneveld later said. "I can score better than this but my doubles were great and I'm pleased with that.

"It's a year since I've won a major tournament and hopefully this is the start of a good week."

Earplugs

Van Barneveld also used a pair of earplugs to aid his concentration during the game, adding: "The crowd are quite quiet but occasionally you hear little noises and it can put you off, so I put them in.

"In front of thousands of people in the UK it's different and you manage to focus despite the noise, but it worked for me."

The preceding match proved quite a contrast, with Adrian Lewis coming from 2-0 and 4-2 behind before reaching round two with a 6-5 win over Robert Thornton.

Thornton opened by breaking the throw with a 14-darter, and then landed a maximum as he doubled his lead.

Lewis hit double 12 twice to level the match but the seventh seed then missed doubles, thus allowing Thornton to re-establish a two-leg cushion.

However, he then missed double top twice for a 5-2 lead, with Lewis subsequently landing double five with his third dart to pull back to 4-3.

A 14-darter then saw Lewis level, with a 121 finish on the bull then putting him ahead for the first time.

But Thornton then made a 116 checkout to send the match into a decider. Both players traded 180s in the final leg but a double 18 from Lewis enabled him to move into the last 16.

Another close finish came in Thursday evening's second match, with Mark Walsh progressing thanks to a 6-5 victory over Bill Davis.

Clear cut

However, the majority of matches were clear cut, with James Wade, Andy Hamilton and Jelle Klaasen all progressing with 6-1 wins against, respectively, Dennis Smith, Shawn Brenneman and Gerry Convery.

Peter Manley, winner of the event in 2003, initially stuttered against Steve Maish, falling 2-1 behind before eventually finding his aim and coming through 6-3.

Alan Tabern is also through after a 6-4 victory over 1994 World Matchplay champion Larry Butler.